Susan

“He has a sense of the bravery it takes to live even an utterly mediocre life like his own. To keep all of this going, to ensure his continuuing status as an almost sane person, his capacity to provide for his family financially, the survival of his marriage and the flourishing of his children--these projects offer no fewer opportunities for heroism than an epic tale. He is unlikely ever to be called upon to serve his nation or to fight an enemy, but courage is required nonetheless within his circumscribed domains. The courage not to be vanquished by anxiety, not to hurt others out of frustration, not to grow too furious with the world for the perceived injuries it heedlessly inflicts, not to go crazy and somehow to manage to persevere in a more or less adequate way through the difficulties of married life--this is true courage. This is a heroism in a class all its own.”
― Alain de Botton, The Course of Love

“She chose to deny his true nature, just as his own mother did, contriving logical excuses for illogical acts, or reasonable grounds for unreasonable behavior, sometimes even blaming themselves for his failures. Poor George! He was overtired, overworked, overpressured – he just needs rest, to be left alone! and George never failed to exploit their misunderstanding.”
― Elizabeth Brundage, All Things Cease to Appear

“In my 20s I prided myself on handling booze better than most. We’d go to pubs and all the girls would stop after a few shots, except for me – I could drink the men under the table. In my early 30s, I was proud that I was a ‘high functioning ‘ drinker. I could easily go days and weeks without drinking. No problem! I loved proving that I had self control, but I also knew there was a reward at the end. Drinking was how I motivated and calmed myself. Then things started to shift, but I still believed it was all fine. I had never been a mean drunk. Never argumentative. I just got a lovely little buzz. Surely there was no harm in that. It was mild and mellow, except I could no longer have a good time without nursing a stiff drink. I had zero patience with people, unless I was tipsy enough, in which case I didn’t care. It took me a long time to acknowledge something was off.”
― Elif Shafak, There Are Rivers in the Sky

“
 Nature imbeds in us insistent dreams of success. For the species, there must be an evolutionary advantage in being hardwired for such striving; restlessness has given us cities, libraries, spaceships. But this impulse does the leave much opportunity for individual equilibrium. The price of a few works of genius throughout history is a substantial portion of the human race being daily sickened by anxiety and disappointment.”
― Alain de Botton, The Course of Love